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When a child actress is called a vile name by an long-running satire site, a beautiful young singer is labeled a stoner for wearing dreadlocks and a phenomenal 13-year old-female athlete is called a slut, they deserve more than a canned, robotic mea culpa.

It feels like Hollywood is finally starting to get what so many of us knew all along; audiences want to see diversity. Yet somehow, at this exciting moment of progress for the industry, Deadline Hollywood found it appropriate to publish what can only be described as a call for regression.

John's life has a lesson for us today. His struggle -- our struggle -- for a just society, for true equality and respect -- is not over. Far from it. All we have to look at is the widespread assault on the Voting Rights Act today. But like him, we cannot walk away; we cannot give up.

There's nothing to be happy about -- no feel-good takeaways -- when a middle school girl gets insulted by a man and has to speak up for him so he can continue a baseball career no one gives a fuck about. She is not supposed to be anyone's savior or protector. We need to be saving and protecting her.

Channeling the revolutionary essence of the Harlem Renaisance, Kendrick Lamar's To Pimp a Butterfly is a gripping, soul-driven melodrama that masterfully depicts the story of a courageous young man fighting through the painful process of liberating himself.

In our everyday fights to silence the racist chants of misguided college students and stifle overaggressive police who racially profile black children, we must reach the finish line. The next generation should never have to question whether their lives matter.

Despite past voting obstacles, there are compelling reasons for blacks in Ferguson to rush to barricades this time to vote. One is the prospect of a regime change. Another is they could move to dump the racket that city officials have run for years that criminalizes virtually the city entire black population. Another is there's no excuse.

The n-word has the blood of thousands of lynchings, beatings, and other horrific crimes melded between its letters, meshed in its very fibers. So, why do some white people want the right to use this abhorrent word again?

I was running errands with my youngest two children in tow when an acquaintance of ours spotted us and came over to say hello. She looked at my son, marveling over how much he had grown.
"Yes," I smiled, "He's a big boy!" She replied, "Such a cute little thug." My son is 2 years old.

While we applaud Starbucks for their effort to engage a topic that many seek to avoid, and while their efforts seem well-intentioned, we, as a national racial justice organization, with a name similar to the hashtag used in the campaign feel compelled to say: as a nation, we need more.

Funding for school policing programs has expanded and more school-based police are being armed with the same weapons cops carry on the streets. This expansion has not come with significant strings attached or proper guidelines.

With all due respect to Pastors Creflo and Taffi, instead of wasting community funds on frivolous expenses like a Gulfstream G650, maybe you should spend more time reaching out to the community in order to understand what they need, and how you can use your ministry to support them!

When I visited the Sivile Primary School in South Africa's Western Cape, I was struck by a feeling. It was a feeling of the vulnerability of the children all around me, who are put at huge risk every single day.

Imprisoned journalist and former Black Panther Mumia Abu-Jamal has been taken to the Intensive Care Unit of Schuylkill Medical Center in Pottsville, Pennsylvania, after he was removed from prison for a medical emergency without any notification to his family, friends or lawyers. Prison officials told his supporters he is in diabetic shock.

The 'Quiet Storm' singer recently spoke with BlackVoices.com about his latest projects 'Time Flies When You're Having Fun' and 'Now and Then' (which includes old and new songs), his Motown Years, coping with the loss of famous friends, and why the Apollo Theater is near and dear to his heart.

Congrats on your NAACP Image Award nomination for Outstanding Album for one of your latest releases, 'Now and Then.'

Smokey Robinson: I'm very excited about that. I have two new CDs out. One is called 'Time Flies When You're Having Fun' and the other one is called 'Now and Then.' 'Now and Then' is made up of six songs from 'Time Flies' and six of my vintage songs that I recorded at some of my live concerts last year -- like 'Ooh Baby Baby,' 'Tears of a Clown' and 'Tracks of My Tears.'

You've written more than 1,000 songs. Are there any songs that you've written that are extremely special to you?

SR: They're like my children. I give them all the same effort. Some of them are just more accepted than others (laughs). When I enter the studio, the first thing I want to start with is the song. When I sit down to write a song, I'm trying to write a song that, if I had written it 50 years before, it would've meant something. And today it's going to mean something -- and 50 years from now it's going to mean something. I can't tell you what my favorite song is. I can tell you what my favorite album is.

My favorite album of all time is 'What's Going On' by Marvin Gaye. Marvin Gaye was my brother. I miss Marvin so much. I would go to his house when he was writing 'What's Going On,' and he would tell me, "Smoke, God is writing this album, man." He said, "I'm just sitting here at the piano. I'm just a catalyst for God, because God is writing this." And when you listen to the album, it's prophecy. It's more poignant today than when it first came out.

The Motown years were a special time. I can't think of any other record label in history that has produced or served as a platform not only for some of the greatest songs in music, but also the greatest artists. From start to finish, Motown had the formula for producing hits. Do you think the music industry will ever see anything close to it again?

SR: Motown, as far as I'm concerned, is a once-in-a-lifetime musical event. There had been nothing like Motown prior to Motown. I doubt seriously that there will ever be another Motown. Berry Gordy is my best friend, and we talk all the time. We [recently] talked about the fact that on the very first day of Motown, there were five people there, and he sat us down and said, "We are not going to make just black music. We are going to make music for the world. Music that the world can enjoy and everybody can relate to." And that's what we set out to do. Motown grew into something beyond any of our wildest imaginations.

What has it been like working with consummate artists such as Michael Jackson, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder and Rick James?

SR: It's like if you made gumbo and every ingredient that you put in there you loved. Well, see that's the way it was for me. Those guys are my brothers, and they're still my brothers, even those who are gone. In my heart, they're my brothers.

Motown was unique. We did family stuff together. We did everything together. The original Hitsville building where we recorded, it was not only a place that you worked. Everybody hung there. There is a Motown family that still exists. Those of us who are alive are still in that family. And we still have that same relationship. Some of us don't see each other for months or years at a time, but when we see each other, it's like we just saw each other yesterday.

Berry has this saying, "Motown people cannot NOT love each other." Because we do. Under any circumstance we love each other. We're always there for each other. It's just an amazing thing. It's indescribable to be with those guys. It's like being with my brothers.

Your tribute to Michael at his memorial in 2009 was touching.

SR: I've had three deaths in my life and now a fourth one with Teena Marie. Those deaths were sudden impacts –- Marvin Gaye; Ron White, who I grew up with and who was in the Miracles with me; Michael Jackson; and now Teena. Those sudden-impact deaths are a tough bullet to bite.

Michael was my little brother. I regret the fact that I didn't get the chance to spend time with him in his later years like I used to. Fame has different levels. Michael got to the absolute optimum of fame. He never really had a normal life. When Michael was a little boy, he was the man. And when he was the man, he was a kid because he missed his childhood. He got to the point where he couldn't do anything without being mobbed. I really felt bad that I didn't get a chance to spend some type of time with him to normalize his life and let him know, "Hey, man, you're a person. First and foremost, you're a human being and you have people who love you just because you're you, and not because you're Michael Jackson." I think he needed that.

When the film 'Dreamgirls' came out in 2006, there was a great deal of speculation that the story was based on Motown.

SR: The original play was about three girls from Chicago. It had nothing to do with a record company. Jennifer Holliday, who is a wonderful friend of mine, was the lead in that. She was absolutely awesome, and it was a great play. Then, the guys who did the movie turned it around and tried to make it a pseudo Motown and tried to make my best friend, Berry, seem like he was a gangster. So, I highly protested that. The guys who wrote 'Dreamgirls' probably knew nothing about Motown. I just don't appreciate anybody trying to paint that image of Motown. But they apologized, and I accepted their apology. And there it is.

The Museum of the City of New York recently opened the exhibit 'Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing: How the Apollo Theater Shaped American Entertainment.' What are some of your fondest Apollo memories?

SR: I love the Apollo; the Apollo is tradition. The Apollo is one of my favorite places in life. I grew up at the Apollo Theater. It's near and dear to my heart.

By: ron smith on 2/17/2011 5:45PM

Highest Ranked

Smokey Robinson is the one of the greatest singing legends of all times.We should worship and appreciate him right now more than ever before while he is still alive.I didn't watch the music awards because the great singers like Marvin Gaye,Levert,James Brown,Aretha,Curtis Mayfield and of course,Smokey,have not received their recognition.But the man with the high pitched, silky voice has been knocking women out for years